Two-Story Outhouse

Have you ever seen a two-story outhouse? The double-decker two-story out house was built in 1913 by Philip Schmit. It stood behind the building owned by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lorber. Schmit and Lorber were brother-in-laws. Lorber’s moved from Canada to Oran in 1913 and lived there until 1956. Schmit and Lorber erected the general store in 1913 and were partners until 1920 when Lorber bought out Schmit. The lower level of the building was Lorber’s store and apartments were on the second floor. Schmit and Lorber were living above the store. Schmit didn’t like the idea of having to run down the outside steps. The structure had four doors, two on the first floor and two on the second floor. The building was complete with a bridge running from the upstairs apartment to the second-story.

The outhouse was constructed so the second floor was directly behind the first floor with a vertical solid wall between the two. From the outside, it wasn’t visible that the second floor was not directly overy the first floor.

Schmit was quoted in a newspaper article, “I sure have had a lot of questions about it. I remember once when a salesman came through. He just couldn’t resist asking what we stored in the building. I said, just take a look for yourself. And man you should have see the expression on his face when he opened the door. I thought he would never stop gaping he took a look-see into the top story, too.”

Although the upstairs apartments got indoor plumbing in the late ‘40’s, the catwalk still existed to the two-story outhouse. Joe Lorber’s son, Leonard was born four years after the outhouse was built. Leonard said it sure beat going down those steps. Leonard remembered old catalogs hung inside each stall for use as toilet paper, but newspapers were softer. If customers were really lucky, they would have recycled soft tissues that came wrapped around an apple. Leonard recalled using the outdoor privy until shortly after WWII when plumbing was installed in the upstairs apartment. By 1958 the store had closed and was converted into apartments. In 1960 Leonard burned down the two-story outhouse. The blaze was so hot he had to call the Oran Fire Department. “I really caught hell when I burned it down,” Leonard said with a chuckle. “They came from all over to see it.”

Leonard owned Lorber Construction. Leonard built an outhouse replica that was pulled on a trailer in parades. The float was captioned “Oran’s First High Rise.”